Are Triathletes worth the dues they pay toward Masters Swimming?
I say we force all Triathletes to spend one day a week in the sprint lane, one day a week doing stroke (i.e. IM) work, and then make them focus on their starts and turns.
This invasion needs to be controlled.... :-)
John Smith
:)
I definitely have mixed feelings. I also am happy to see the program grow and many of them are committed athletes. However during long course season we only have 4 lanes so there is a space issue. The SWIMMERS can't swim with the triathletes because all the tris want to do is freestyle. They also require quite a bit of supervision since some (not all) seem to be a couple of steps shy of drowning. I guess if I had to make a decision it would be to get rid of them at our practices (during LC season) except for the ones who can and are willing to do a SWIMMING practice...I feel like I can say that since we do have a separate practice for them but they tend to trickle over into the swimming practices...
Originally posted by 330man
I swim primarily freestyle with a little bit of *** mixed in on occasion (recovering from a shoulder injury). I don't see why a person's stroke choice should affect your group workout.
It just makes things easier when 5 or 6 people are in the lane if everybody in the lane is doing the same thing. You're right though as long as everybody makes the interval it shouldn't matter what stroke they are doing. Therefore next time I want to get in a good breastroke workout I will move down and swim with the triathletes...
Originally posted by 330man
I swim primarily freestyle with a little bit of *** mixed in on occasion (recovering from a shoulder injury). I don't see why a person's stroke choice should affect your group workout.
If you are in the same lane, at the very least you should be all doing the same interval. But, generally (like 95%) of the time, everyone does the same strokes. Also, say you are doing a 1:20 100 repeat, if you are all doing the same strokes, you will generally come in together. If you have mixed strokes, you might all leave at the same time but probably won't all have the same pace making it difficult to swim together.
Originally posted by TheGoodSmith
Should we discuss the selfish time consuming training lifestyles of triathletes ?............ :-)
John Smith
I gotta agree with you on this one, it is a little culty, isn't it?
My team has some workouts specifically for triathletes I think 4x a week. Of course we do have a few who sneak into our regular workouts (as I'm sure a few of us sneak into theirs). I really don't understand the fuss....we have 8 lanes. If they want to do free, chances are there's a lane for them out of the 8 where they'd fit in with whatever that lane is doing. The coach is usually pretty good about moving people around if he sees someone out of where they should be.
I swam in a place where many of the swimmers' only focus was the La Jolla Roughwater swim. They trained all year for it. Granted, they always did well in it, but I got irked when they would put on their paddles and do nothing but freestyle on stroke day. Even worse, they would not show up for the only day specified as distance free day!
As for triathletes, I have respect for them, but I've always been one to say that even though swimming is an individual sport, it is a team effort in workout. Unless you have the glory of swimming in your own lane all the time (as I once did), you have to do what everyone else is doing. If we're doing 12x50 and not 6x100. If the whole lane is doing 200 IMs, don't do 300s free.
The swimming part is probably the only time they have to contend with other people, so they don't really know what it's like.
Originally posted by hrietz
The SWIMMERS can't swim with the triathletes because all the tris want to do is freestyle. I swim primarily freestyle with a little bit of *** mixed in on occasion (recovering from a shoulder injury). I don't see why a person's stroke choice should affect your group workout.
Peter, Peter, Peter you are so confused! I can forgive that however since Evil Smith so twisted our identites and turned things completey around that its hard to remember who's who. I'm the taller, nicer, better looking one who also happens to have a faster 50 time at the moment (which is a major thorn in JS's side!).
John, would you care to share the "truth" with the group?
Recall a certain open water swim in Colorado last year that you won (beating out a host of the evil triathletes)......wearing a wetsuit......which no one else did??!! And you continue to catch hell from it to this day from Heather?
Must be a Texas thing with you.....all hat and no cattle as Sam puts it!
JS....I do seem to recall someone at nationals yelling at you while you we're standing on the blocks: "Are those your legs or are you sitting on a chicken"?
Maybe you should get on a bike once in awhile on put some meat on those bony thing.....seems to me you have a nice one?
My mistake, I was not aware that you had 5 to 6 swimmers in one lane. The workouts at my local pool typically have 3 to 4 people per lane and sometimes even less. I can see how stroke choice would have an effect on a crowded lane.
In any case, I love swimming next to triathletes and passing them while taking fewer strokes. Technique trumps power in the water!! I generally swim between 13 and 16 SPL depending on my level on concentration and fatigue but most of the tri's I see swimming are over 20 SPL and going slow to boot.
